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Short vs Torre, part 2

Two weeks ago I wrote about a six-game match between grandmasters Nigel Short and Eugenio Torre, dubbed as the Carlsberg Chess Classic, held in the Century Park Sheraton in Manila. It was sponsored by Asia Brewery and was held from Oct. 17-23, 1988. Both players won one game each with four draws and the match finished in a 3-3 draw.

I also mentioned in passing that for some reason the games of the match do not appear in any of the major databases and that I got the game scores from press clippings at that time. A few days later who else but GM Nigel Short contacted me through the organizer of the Negros Open, Mr. Tony Aguirre. It appears that he did not have a copy of the games either and requested me to send in the moves. In his words, “these games ought to be in the public domain. They are certainly of interest to historians and aficionados alike.” I, of course, was very happy to comply.

Mr. Aguirre asked me to annotate the games. Here is game 4 of the match, Short’s win.

Short, Nigel D. (2665) — Torre, Eugene O. (2555) [C82]
Carlsberg Match Manila (4), 21.10.1988

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Nxe4

GM Eugene has played the Open Spanish throughout his career, especially when he wanted a fighting game, and enjoyed success with it. Remember when Topalov was making his way up the rankings in the 1990s and at one time seemed invincible? He even led Bulgaria to a win vs Russia in the Moscow 1994 Olympiad by defeating Garry Kasparov on top board. In the 1996 Yerevan Olympiad he was expected to shine on board 1 as well but it was GM Eugene who burst his bubble with the Open Spanish.

6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3

Currently the absolute main line here is 9.Nbd2 Nc5 10.c3 Be7 (10…d4) 11.Bc2 and it is Wesley So who has shown a reliable continuation for Black here with 11…d4 12.Nb3 (12.Ne4 d3 13.Nxc5 transposes) 12…d3 13.Nxc5 (13.Bb1 Nxb3 14.axb3 Bf5 15.Re1 0–0 16.Be3 Qd5 Both sides have chances. Black’s pawn on d3 is not so easy to capture. Wei Yi (2706)-So, W (2773) Wijk aan Zee 2016 1/2 70.) 13…dxc2 14.Qxd8+ Rxd8 15.Nxe6 fxe6 16.Be3 Rd5 17.Rfc1 (the other rook may be needed on the a-file to break with a2–a4) (17.Bf4 0–0 18.Bg3 g5 19.h3 Rxf3! 20.gxf3 Rd2 seems to me that Black is better already) 17…Nxe5 18.Nxe5 Rxe5 position is equal. Adams, M (2744)-So, W (2773) Wijk aan Zee 2016 1/2 33.

9…Nc5

This was how Viktor Korchnoi played the Open Spanish during his 1978 World Championship match with Karpov in Baguio. Eugene Torre had been present during the games and became intimately familiar with the nuances of the line.

10.Bc2

A nice idea here is 10.Nd4?! Nxe5 11.f4 with the idea of pushing f4–f5.

10…Bg4 11.Nbd2 Be7 12.Re1 Bh5

The 28th game of the world championship match between Karpov and Korchnoi continued 12…Qd7 13.Nb3 Ne6 14.h3 Bh5 15.Bf5 Ncd8 16.Be3 a5 17.Bc5 a4 18.Bxe7 Qxe7 19.Nbd2 c6 with equality. Karpov, A (2725)-Kortschnoj, V (2665) Baguio City 1978 0–1 61.

13.b4

This position had occurred in a game between Short and Torre the previous year. It has continued 13.Nf1 0–0 14.Ng3 Bg6 15.Be3 Qd7 16.h4 and White retained a slight pull but it was not enough. Short, N (2615)-Torre, E (2540) Brussels 1987 1/2 34.

13…Ne6 14.Nf1 0–0 15.a4 Qd7 16.Bf5 Rad8 17.axb5 axb5 18.g4 Bg6 19.h4 h5

GM Eugene had seen that 19…d4! 20.h5 Bxf5 21.gxf5 dxc3 22.Qxd7 Rxd7 23.fxe6 fxe6 24.Re3 Bxb4 25.Kg2 Ba5 was much better for him — 3 passed pawns is more than enough for the piece. But why the need to sacrifice? He can get the advantage with simple moves.

20.Ng3 d4! 21.Ra6!

Black’s point was that 21.gxh5 Bxf5 22.Nxf5 dxc3 was much better for him.

GM Nigel’s idea with 21.Ra6 is that this continuation is now not possible because if we follow the same continuation then the white knight on c6 will become en prise.

21…hxg4 22.Bxg4 Nb8? <D>

Necessary was 22…Qe8! 23.Bxe6 fxe6 24.Nxd4 Nxd4 25.cxd4 Bxb4 26.Rf1 c5 when Black is doing very well with the two bishops and queenside pawns starting to look threatening.

POSITION AFTER 22…NB8

23.Rxe6!

What Black overlooked. This surprise upset GM Torre’s thinking processes and his play went downhill from here. On the other hand, sensing the kill, Short’s forces all sprang into action and he does not let his opponent off the hook. By the way this ability to focus all his energies at the critical portions of the game is perhaps GM Nigel Short’s greatest strength as a player.

23…fxe6 24.Nxd4 Bf7 25.Bg5 Nc6?

Another inaccuracy. Simply 25…Bxg5 was indicated.

26.Bxe7 Nxe7 27.Ne4 Ng6?

A third mistake with the knight. 27…Nc6 was the only way to continue fighting.

28.Ng5!

With the deadly threat of 29.Bxe6 Bxe6 30.Qh5.

28…Rfe8

Black can play 28…Ne7 hoping for 29.Bxe6 Bxe6 30.Qh5? Bf5 and the tables are turned. However, 28…Ne7 29.Bxe6 Bxe6 30.Ngxe6 is an easy-enough win.

29.Bh5 Nh8 30.Qc2 g6 31.Ne4 Kg7 32.Nf6 Qc8 33.Nc6 Qa6 34.Nxd8 Rxd8 35.Bf3 Qa7 36.Kg2 c5 37.Qc1 cxb4 38.Ng4 Kf8 39.Qh6+ Ke7 40.Qg5+ Ke8 41.Bc6+ 1–0

For those of you collectors out there, here are the rest of the games. I had annotated game 1 in “Chess Piece” last Oct. 26.

Torre, Eugene O. (2555) — Short, Nigel D. (2665) [C24]
Carlsberg Match Manila (1), 17.10.1988

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 c6 4.Nf3 d6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Bb3 0-0 7.c3 Nbd7 8.Re1 Qc7 9.d4 a6 10.a4 b6 11.Nbd2 g6 12.Nf1 Kg7 13.Ng3 c5 14.dxe5 Nxe5 15.Nxe5 dxe5 16.Qe2 Be6 17.Bxe6 fxe6 18.c4 Rab8 19.b3 h5 20.h3 Nh7 21.Nf1 Bg5 22.Bb2 Rf7 23.Red1 [23.Nh2! Rbf8 24.Rf1] 23…Rbf8 24.f3 Nf6 25.Rd3 Rd7 26.Rad1 Rfd8 27.Bc3 h4 28.Rxd7+ Rxd7 29.Rxd7+ Nxd7 30.Bd2 Bf4 31.Be1 g5 32.Qd3 Nf6 33.Bc3 Kf7 34.Ne3 Ke7 35.Ng4 Nxg4 36.fxg4 Qa7 37.Kf1 Qd7?? 38.Qxd7+ Kxd7 39.Ke2 a5 40.Kf3 Ke7 41.Be1 Kf6 42.g3 hxg3 43.Bxg3 Kg7 44.h4 Kg6 45.Kg2 Kg7 46.hxg5 Kg6 47.Bxf4 exf4 48.e5 Kxg5 49.Kf3 Kh6 50.Kxf4 Kg6 51.Kf3 Kh6 52.Kg2 Kg5 53.Kg3 Kh6 54.Kh4 Kg6 55.g5 Kg7 56.Kh5 Kh7 57.g6+ Kg8 58.Kh6 Kh8 59.g7+ Kg8 60.Kg6 1-0

Short, Nigel D. (2665) — Torre, Eugene O. (2555) [C65]
Carlsberg Match Manila (2), 18.10.1988

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Bc5 5.c3 0-0 6.d4 Bb6 7.Re1 d6 8.h3 Bd7 9.Na3 a6 10.Ba4 Ba7 11.Bg5 h6 12.Bh4 Qe7 13.Nc2 Nb8 14.Bb3 c6 15.dxe5 dxe5 16.Bg3 Rd8 17.Qe2 Be6 18.Bxe6 Qxe6 19.Bxe5 Nbd7 20.Ncd4 Bxd4 21.Bxd4 c5 22.Bxf6 Nxf6 23.c4 Rd7 24.e5 Nh7 25.Rad1 Rad8 26.Rxd7 Rxd7 27.b3 Nf8 28.Rd1 Rxd1+ 29.Qxd1 Qf5 30.h4 Ne6 31.g3 b5 32.a4 bxa4 33.bxa4 a5 34.Qd5 Qb1+ 35.Kg2 Qb4 36.Nd2 Qxa4 37.Ne4 Qe8 38.Nd6 Qd7 39.f4 a4 40.f5 Nd4 41.Kh2 Nxf5 42.Qxc5 Qe6 ½-½

Torre, Eugene O. (2555) — Short, Nigel D. (2665) [C08]
Carlsberg Match Manila (3), 20.10.1988

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 exd5 5.Ngf3 a6 6.Be2 c4 7.b3 cxb3 8.axb3 Nc6 9.0-0 Bd6 10.Bb5 Nge7 11.Ne5 Bd7 12.Bxc6 Bxc6 13.Ba3 0-0 14.Re1 f6 15.Nd3 Ng6 16.Bxd6 Qxd6 17.Nf1 b6 18.Ne3 Rfe8 19.Nf5 Rxe1+ 20.Qxe1 Qd7 21.Ne3 a5 22.Qc3 Bb5 23.Re1 Re8 24.g3 Kf7 25.Ng2 Ne7 26.Ne3 g5 27.Qd2 Nf5 28.Nxf5 Qxf5 29.Rxe8 Kxe8 30.Ne1 Qe6 31.Ng2 Qe2 32.Qc1 Bd7 33.Ne3 Be6 34.Kg2 f5 35.Qd1 Qxd1 36.Nxd1 b5 37.Nc3 Bd7 38.Kf1 [38.Nxd5 Bc6 39.c4 bxc4 40.bxc4 Bxd5+ 41.cxd5 a4-+] 38…Bc6 39.Ke2 Kf7 40.Ke3 Kg6 41.f4 h6 42.b4 a4 43.Nb1 Be8 44.Na3 Kf6 45.Kf3 Ke6 46.Ke3 Kd6 47.Kf3 Bh5+ 48.Kf2 Kc6 49.Ke3 Bd1 50.Kf2 gxf4 51.gxf4 Bh5 52.Ke3 Bg4 53.Kf2 Bh3 54.Kg1 ½-½

Torre, Eugene O. (2555) — Short, Nigel D. (2665) [C06]
Carlsberg Match Manila (5), 23.10.1988

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.Bd3 c5 5.e5 Nfd7 6.c3 b6 7.Ndf3 Ba6 8.Bg5 Be7 9.Bxe7 Qxe7 10.Ne2 Bxd3 11.Qxd3 Nc6 12.0-0 0-0 13.Nd2 f5 14.exf6 Rxf6 15.f4 Rc8 16.a3 Qe8 17.Rae1 Qg6 18.Qxg6 Rxg6 19.Nf3 Rf6 20.g3 h6 21.h3 a5 22.Nc1 c4 23.Nh2 Nf8 24.Ne2 Rf7 25.Ng4 b5 26.Ne5 Re7 27.Nxc6 Rxc6 28.f5 Rf7 29.fxe6 Nxe6 30.Rxf7 Kxf7 31.Kg2 Nc7 32.h4 g5 33.hxg5 hxg5 34.Ng1 Re6 35.Nf3 Rxe1 36.Nxe1 Na8 37.Nc2 Nb6 38.Ne3 Ke6 39.Kf3 Na4 40.Nd1 Kf5 41.g4+ Ke6 ½-½

Short, Nigel D. (2665) — Torre, Eugene O. (2555) [C96]
Carlsberg Match Manila (6), 24.10.1988

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Nc6 12.d5 Na5 13.b3 g6 14.a4 Bd7 15.axb5 axb5 16.Nxe5 dxe5 17.d6 Nh5 18.dxe7 Qxe7 19.Be3 Be6 20.Nd2 Nc6 21.Qe2 Rab8 22.Ra6 Rfc8 23.Nf3 b4 24.Rxc6 Rxc6 25.Nxe5 Rcc8 26.g4 Ng7 27.c4 Ra8 28.Rd1 f6 29.Nd3 g5 30.f4 Bf7 31.Qf3 Ra2 32.Bb1 Ra3 33.Bc2 Ra2 34.Bb1 Ra3 35.Bc2 Ra2 ½-½

At around that time GM Nigel Short had acquired a reputation as a “white” player — his winning percentage with White was much better than with Black. He was also a fighter who does not agree to quick draws and, as mentioned earlier, is merciless in pursuing advantages.

Do you know about his match with GM Lev Alburt? He was a Soviet Grandmaster (born 1945), a three-time Ukrainian champion, who migrated to the United States in 1979. He showed his class by winning the US Chess Championship in 1984, 1985 and 1990.

After winning the US title for the first time in 1984 he challenged the British Champion, Nigel Short, to a match for the title of “Champion of the English-Speaking World.” Sponsors were found in the US and they even foot the bill for his two seconds, GMs Djindjichashvili and Genna Sosonko.

Nigel Short went to the United States without any seconds but came through with a devastating victory — six wins, two draws, no losses for a final score of 7.0-1.0. Not only that — Lev Alburt was the world’s greatest authority on the Alekhine’s Defense and even has a variation named after him, the so-called Alburt Variation 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 g6. In all four of his White games Short allowed the Alekhine’s Defence and won all of them. In other words he defeated not only Alburt but his opening as well.

The hometown crowd in Manila 1988 felt that “El Eugenio” could do anything and were disappointed in the drawn match with Short. Objectively speaking though Torre did very well to tie it. Ask Alburt!

Bobby Ang is a founding member of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) and its first Executive Director. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA), he taught accounting in the University of Santo Tomas (UST) for 25 years and is currently Chief Audit Executive of the Equicom Group of Companies.

bobby@cpamd.net

Uncertainty becomes new normal as era of Moore’s law draws to a close

By Howard Yu

Last month, the world’s biggest chipmaker, Intel, whose brand is synonymous with personal computers and laptops, announced that its former chief executive Paul Otelini had passed away in his sleep at the age of 66. As the fifth chief executive of the company, Otelini presided over the period of largest growth in the company, raising the annual revenue from $34 billion to $53 billion in 2012. In fact, more money was made under his eight year reign than in the previous 37 years of Intel’s existence. No other company can fire out a better and faster microprocessor, the engine that spurs into motion when you turn your computer on.

In 1965, Intel cofounder Gordon Moore made a bold prediction about the exponential growth of computing power. From the vacuum tube to the discrete transistor to the integrated circuit, the miniaturization of computer hardware had progressed apace. Extrapolating the trend, Moore asserted that the number of microchip transistors etched into a fixed area of a computer microprocessor would double every two years. Since transistor density was correlated with computing power, the latter would also double every two years. As improbable as it might have seemed, Intel has since delivered on this promise, immortalizing “Moore’s law.”

It’s difficult for anyone to fathom the effects of exponential growth. Take an imaginary letter-sized piece of paper and fold it in half. Then fold it a second time and then a third. The thickness of the stack doubles every time. If you manage to fold the same piece of paper 42 times, it will be so thick that it stretches all the way to the moon. That’s exponential growth. Exponential growth explains why a single iPhone today possesses more computing power than the entire spacecraft for the Apollo moon mission back in 1969. Without Moore’s law, there would be no Google, no Facebook, no Uber, no Airbnb. Silicon Valley would just be like any other valley.

When a product’s performance is improved beyond a singular dimension, as historically dictated by Moore’s law, roles and responsibilities blur.

When I was at a conference in Israel, a former Intel executive told me that Gordon Moore could get “rather philosophical” about the future of Moore’s law. When asked by his staff when this amazing trajectory might end, the cofounder responded, “Nothing grows exponentially forever.” And indeed, Intel was no exception.

In 2016, Intel disclosed in a regulatory filing that it was slowing the pace of launching new chips. Its latest transistor is down to only about 100 atoms wide. The fewer atoms composing a transistor, the harder it is to manipulate. Following this trend, by early 2020, transistors should have just 10 atoms. At that scale, electronic properties would be disturbed by quantum physics, making any devices hopelessly unreliable. Samsung, Intel, and Microsoft have already shelled out $37 billion just to keep the magic going, but soon enough, engineers and scientists will be hitting the fundamental limit of physics.

The imminent demise of Moore’s law, however, doesn’t mean a total pause in new product hype. It doesn’t mean that virtual reality headsets, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence are all smoke screens. It won’t stop machines from taking away more white-collar jobs — although it’s a nice thought. What it does mean, however, is that technological drivers will switch away from mere computing horsepower and focus their attention elsewhere, such as on more clever software design. Despite 50 years of staggeringly increasing computing brawn, commensurate development in software has taken a back seat. Charles Simonyi, a computer scientist who oversaw the development of Microsoft Word and Excel, said in 2013 that software had failed to leverage the advances that have occurred in hardware. The temptation to rely on hardware’s brute force to mask inelegant software design had been too strong. A prime example is in the area of artificial intelligence.

Until very recently, computers required programmers to write instructions. Computers generally don’t learn autonomously; they follow rules. However, Google has demonstrated that machines can learn on their own, becoming better and smarter without human supervision. When its program AlphaGo trounced Chinese Go grandmaster Ke Jie earlier in May, Ke took note of his opponent’s unique and sometimes transcendent style of play: “AlphaGo is improving too fast. Last year, it was still quite humanlike when it played. This year, it became like a god of Go.”

The all-powerful AlphaGo was made possible because of “deep learning,” a software design approach that mimics the working of neurons in the human brain. Google’s software engineers have somehow figured out how to “reward” a program in the form of higher scores when the algorithm achieves the desired outcome. AlphaGo then writes its own instructions randomly, generating many instructions on a trial and error basis and replacing lower-scoring strategies with those higher-scoring ones. That’s how an algorithm teaches itself to become better, without constant human supervision.

When a product’s performance is improved beyond a singular dimension, as historically dictated by Moore’s law, roles and responsibilities blur. Software firms are enticed to dabble in hardware, and hardware makers create, in turn, niche products. Facebook and Amazon are already designing their own data centers, Microsoft has started making its own chips, and Intel is now jumping into virtual reality technologies. Unlike in the innocent era of desktop computers, we will no longer have the dominant architecture of Windows and Intel. Gone will be the existing industry order. And so, in the age of cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things, choices and competition will proliferate.

For non-IT companies, purchasing will become more complicated. Managers will no longer be able to look for the industry’s best practice and buy off-the-shelf-solutions outright. More investigation and negotiation will be commonplace. The passing of Paul Otelini will always remind us of a simple, innocent world that we’ll dearly miss.

Howard Yu is professor of strategy and innovation at IMD Business School with campuses in Switzerland and Singapore.

This article was originally published in the South China Morning Post.

Star Wars meets fruit farms as lasers deter berry-stealing birds

IN THE HISTORIC BATTLE of birds versus farmers, there’s a new hi-tech scarecrow in town.

Bird Control Group, a Netherlands-based firm, is selling a laser in the US that imitates predators to scare off birds. The Agrilaser Autonomic, as it’s called, is installed near crops and combines colors, filters and lenses to produce a greenish laser beam about 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) in diameter. Birds perceive the back-and-forth motion of the laser as a physical danger, like a predator or an oncoming car, and instinctively take flight to seek safety, Chief Executive Officer Steinar Henskes said.

It took the company about three years to develop “the ultimate laser beam to repel birds,” Henskes said. About 100 US farms have adopted the technology, which has been in use for two seasons. The company expects that number could triple by next year, Henskes said.

As long as humans have domesticated crops, they’ve contended with flying pests eager to indulge in a quick meal. Robins, starlings and blackbirds in particular have been known to wipe out acres of ripe berries. A 2012 survey estimated that birds caused $189 million in damages to blueberry, cherry, wine grape and Honeycrisp apple crops in California, Michigan, New York, Oregon, and Washington in the previous season. Farmers already use a variety of tools to deter birds, including nets, cannons, inflatable air dancers, recordings of birds calling out in distress, and repellent.

Still, there’s a need for more innovation in keeping birds away from fruits, said Jim O’Connell, a senior agriculture resource educator at Cornell Cooperative Extension in Kingston, New York. The animals are persistent and smart when it comes to getting their food and will often learn the difference between real threats and fake ones.

“Birds continue to adapt, so we need to continually change things around to keep ahead of them,” O’Connell said by telephone. “If you give them any opportunity, they’ll keep coming back.”

Enter the bird laser, which Bird Control Group says is advanced enough so that the animals can’t get used to it or eventually outsmart it.

That would be a relief for farmers like Mike Boylan, the owner of Wrights Farm in Gardiner, New York. A couple years ago, birds consumed his farm’s entire cherry crop of about four acres.

“We couldn’t get in there fast enough to get the birds out,” Boylan said. “It was a light crop, they ate the whole thing.”

Boylan, who also grows blueberries, uses nets to try and protect that fruit. And while effective, if the nets have any slight tears anywhere, the “pesky little buggers” seem to find them, he said.

Amanda Vance, a faculty research assistant at Oregon State University, said some farmers are having success with the laser. She used it last season in blueberry research fields in combination with Bird Gard, which projects distress calls. Used together, the field lost hardly any berries, she said.

The laser is also being used in vineyards and at poultry farms, to help keep wild birds with diseases like avian influenza away. In the Netherlands, it keeps geese off of agricultural land and pastures for dairy cows. It’s also used in other industries like aviation. Bird Control Group estimates there are about 6,000 users of the lasers around the world, and that they reduce bird interference by between 70% and 99%.

But, there is still one surefire, old-school way to keep birds out: hire a professional falconer to fly a trained raptor around the fields at harvest time.

“There is really no scare tactic that rivals a bird of prey,” which “represents death,” said Juliet Carroll, the fruit coordinator for New York State Integrated Pest Management at Cornell University. “You’ve got the fear that is instinctive, and the birds never get over it.”

But it’s expensive to hire a falconer, Henskes of Bid Control Group said, and there aren’t always a lot of professionals available — which is why the company is betting that the bird-of-prey mimicking lasers could be the next best thing. — Bloomberg

Italy’s white truffles feel the heat at Alba auction

ALBA, ITALY — It’s bad news for white truffle fans. Dry weather and changing climate patterns have hit production and sent prices soaring.

The winning bidder for the biggest truffle at this year’s Alba White Truffle auction in Italy, from Hong Kong, paid €75,000 or a well-rounded truffle weighing 850 grams.

Master truffle hunter Piercarlo Vacchina has trained his two dogs Rocky and Jimmy to hunt for the delicacy but says the last few years of drought have taken their toll. He insists he’s not in it for the money any more.

“More than the money, I’d say it’s the passion — because unfortunately in the last few years, it’s been really hard to pay even the dogs’ expenses, the vet bills and everything,” he says.

Alba, a small town in the northwestern region of Piemonte, is known as Italy’s white truffle capital.

Every year at this time it hosts the famous International Alba White Truffle Fair which attracts around 100,000 visitors from all over the world who come to buy, sell and smell the tasty fungus.

A highlight of the fair is the truffle auction, now in its 18th year, with proceeds going to charitable causes. This Sunday it took place in Grinzane Cavour Castle with live satellite links to Hong Kong and Dubai.

But climate change, drought, and severe storms, and a trend to grow more vines for wine, have undermined production and sent prices soaring.

“It’s not an exceptional year. It’s a poor year, with very high prices and very few truffles,” says truffle hunter and seller Gianluca Sacchetto.

Over the past 25 years, there has been a 30% decrease in truffle production — and, in some places, they are disappearing altogether.

Almost two-thirds of Italy’s farmland has been hit by a prolonged drought this year, costing Italian agriculture some €2 billion, according to farmers association Coldiretti.

Limited supply of white truffles inevitably drives the prices up and this year they have reached an all time high with an average price of €6,000 per kilo.

Truffle hunter Marilena Tarable says with this week’s much needed rain the truffles have started growing a little bigger and a bit rounder because the earth has softened.

“But up until now, with the very hard earth, it’s really hard to extract them,” she says. — Reuters

Singapore Airlines installs new cabins on A380s

SINGAPORE Airlines has invested around $850 million for the research, design and installation of new cabins for its Airbus A380 fleet.

The new cabins will be fitted to the first of five new A380s on order with Airbus, while retrofit work will begin in late 2018 on the 14 existing A380s. All of these efforts are targeted for completion in 2020.

In a statement, Singapore Airlines said the new cabin offerings will feature more space and privacy across four classes.

There will be 471 seats on the A380, comprised of six Singapore Airlines Suites and 78 Business Class seats on the upper deck, and 44 Premium Economy Class seats and 343 Economy Class seats on the main deck.

“The introduction of our all-new cabin products is intended to ensure we retain our product leadership position. The significant investment in the new product and service offerings demonstrates that we are always listening to our customers, and ensuring that we continue to deliver the world’s best travel experience,” Singapore Airlines Senior Vice-President Product & Services Marvin Tan was quoted as saying in a statement.

Each Suite will have a separate full-flat bed with adjustable recline and plush leather chair, 32-inch full HD monitor, a full-sized personal wardrobe, customized handbag stowage compartment, amenity box lined with soft leather, specially designed carpet and a feature wall with mood lighting.

Singapore Airlines currently use A380 planes for its flights to Auckland, Beijing, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Melbourne, Mumbai, New Delhi, New York, Paris, Shanghai, Sydney, and Zurich.

Transport dep’t posts weakest budget utilization rate

THE National government’s budget utilization in October rose to 71% from 68% a year earlier, the Department of Budget and Management said.

Over the 10 months to October, the budget utilization rate was little changed at 91.7% from 91.8% a year earlier.

The measure of utilization is the Notice of Cash Allocations (NCA), a cash authority issued quarterly by the Budget department to central, regional and provincial government agencies and operating units to cover their cash requirements.

The Department of Transportation had the lowest NCA utilization in October at 16.3%, with P6.1 billion of its P7.29 billion budget releases unused.

This was followed by the Department of Information and Communications Technology, which used 16.7% of the P674.96 million released.

Agencies have until the end of the quarter to fully utilize their budget allotments.

The Judiciary, which includes the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, the Court of Tax Appeals, and other court had the highest NCA utilization rate at 97.1% of the P216 million released.

The Department of Public Works and Highways was second at 93.4% on funds of P36.09 billion budget for the month.

Budget Undersecretary Laura B. Pascua said that the NCA use should improve further in the following months.

“Infra[structure] has been running ahead of its cash program,” she said in a mobile phone message.

In the nine months to September, the government spent P2.01 trillion, or 67.93% of the P2.959 trillion overall expenditure target. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan

Shares decline on profit taking ahead of GDP

STOCKS plunged yesterday, as investors were taking profits ahead of the release of third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) today and due to lower remittance figures for September.

The Philippines Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed at 8,273.44 on Wednesday, down 106.20 points or 1.26%.

The all-shares index ended at 4,864.15, dropping 49.76 points or 1.01%.

“The index fell today after twenty-three out of the thirty blue-chip stocks ended in a bearish tone today with JGS (JG Summit Holdings, Inc.), SM (SM Investments Corp.), SMPH (SM Prime Holdings, Inc.), BPI (Bank of the Philippine Islands) and BDO (BDO Unibank, Inc.) leading the local bourse down. This selloff is mainly a result of profit taking ahead of the GDP release date on Thursday as well as the negative investor sentiment in the commodities market that rippled across Asian and European equities which triggered foreign investors to sell 649 million worth of shares in our market today,” Jervin S. de Celis, equities trader at Timson Securities, Inc., said in a text message on Wednesday.

The government will release GDP data for the third quarter today. Analysts expect the country’s overall economic growth to have stayed above 6% last quarter on the back of strong domestic demand and recovering merchandise exports, results of a BusinessWorld poll showed.

A poll of 11 economists and analysts late last week yielded a median GDP growth estimate of 6.6% for the third quarter, edging up from the second quarter’s 6.5% and January-March’s 6.4%, but slower than the 7.1% recorded a year ago.

Luis A. Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development Corp., said investors were disappointed by the latest remittance figures.

“Philippine shares were sold down as investors were disappointed by the rather steep drop in the latest remittance figures of a little over -8% in September,” Mr. Limlingan said in a text message.

Money sent home by overseas Filipino workers totaled $2.186 billion for the month, dropping 8.3% from the $2.383 billion posted a year ago and the $2.499 billion that flew in August, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported yesterday.

The amount is the lowest since the $2.083-billion remittances tallied in April, and is the steepest fall in over a decade or since a 10.9% drop in April 2003.

All sectors closed in the red. Mining and oil dropped 264.91 points or 2.11% to close at 12,248.92; holding firms went down 128.21 points or 1.49% to 8,467.75; property declined 49.10 points or 1.26% to 3,831.32; financials lost 19.74 points or 0.95% to end at 2,048.58; industrials gave up 91.16 points or 0.82% to finish at 11,002.97; and services slipped by 6.22 points or 0.37% to 1,652.80.

Value turnover dropped to P5.91 billion from Tuesday’s P8.88 billion, with 1.42 billion shares changing hands.

Decliners beat advancers, 109 to 76, while 53 names were flat.

Net foreign selling was recorded at P649.54 million, a reversal of Tuesday’s net purchases worth P55.46 million. — PPCM

US agrees to explore FTA with Philippines

THE US has agreed to begin initial talks with the Philippines for a free trade agreement (FTA), after US President Donald J. Trump’s visit to the Philippines for the 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit and other related meetings which ended last Tuesday.

In a joint statement released by the US Office of the Press Secretary on Tuesday, Mr. Trump and President Rodrigo R. Duterte have decided to “further deepen the extensive United States and Philippine economic relationship.”

“The United States welcomes the Philippines’ interest in a bilateral free trade agreement and both sides agreed to discuss the matter further through the United States-Philippines Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA),” the statement read.

The trade agreement, which will also extend to private sector cooperation, will also focus on agricultural products, intellectual property, and labor.

“To this end, both sides will explore strengthening dialogues for innovation and sharing of best practices in technology to optimize the position of the Philippines as a preferred destination for American investments in the Asia-Pacific region,” the statement added.

In a briefing Tuesday, Department of Trade and Industry Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo said that a Philippine delegation will be heading to US by the end of the month to start the talks for the strategic dialogue and the TIFA.

Mr. Rodolfo added that the Philippines started focusing on sealing a bilateral FTA with US after Mr. Trump’s sudden pulling out from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal in January this year.

According to the office of the United States Trade Representative, the TIFA serves as a platform between US and another country concerning trade and investment issues.

Aside from the TIFA, the Philippines has been a beneficiary of the US-granted generalized system of preferences (GSP) with grants select local products entry to the US with little to no tariffs, a program which gives aid to poor and developing countries.

“We enjoy a little trade surplus and we acknowledged US support via GSP and the recent inclusion of travel goods. And that we wish to elevate the trade arrangements to start exploring FTA with the US. President Trump welcomed the suggestion and said they will consider exploratory talks on FTA,” Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said in a text message to reporters last Monday.

“If you look at it, 75% of our products already enter the US duty-free. The only remaining products [that are not included] are garments and textiles, wristwatches, carrageenan and seaweed, and the entire agricultural sector,” Mr. Rodolfo also said.

“Market access is what we’re looking for here and the possibility of investments also so that we can have a framework that they invest here and make the Philippines as their hub in the region,” he added.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the US was the Philippines’ top export destination with a 14.3% share of total exports in September, and the fourth-leading source of imports at 7.5%. — Anna Gabriela A. Mogato

Davao OK’s P7.8-B budget for 2018

THE CITY’s legislative body has approved the proposed P7.8-billion budget for 2018, which is P2 million lower than the P8-billion allocation this year. The 2017 fund saw a 16% jump from the previous year’s P6.9 billion. The Internal Revenue Allotment, the local government’s share from the national coffers, is still the top source of the city’s budget for next year at P4.47 billion while the remaining amount will come from local income and funds. The city is aiming to increase its local income through the revised Schedule of Market Value (SMV) for real property tax, which is pending approval by the Department of Finance. Councilor Danilo C. Dayanghirang, chair of the council committee on finance ways, and means and appropriations, said they are hopeful that the new SMV and its corresponding higher taxes would be implemented by 2019. — Carmencita A. Carillo

Coins.ph gets central bank license

COINS.PH said it has captured over 2 million customers using its mobile wallet service, with its client base expected to grow further after securing its registration with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

In a statement, the financial technology firm said it has secured a certification from the regulator to formally operate in the Philippines as an electronic money (e-money) issuer.

“The new license allows Coins to accept and hold customer funds, and extend the functionality of its online and offline payment services. The company already has a very active customer base using its existing payments, remittance, air-time, and bill-pay services,” the non-bank firm said.

BSP Deputy Governor Chuchi G. Fonacier confirmed this, saying via text: “Yes. Coins.ph is licensed both as electronic money issuer and also as remittance agent.”

Coins is a mobile app-based platform that serves as an e-wallet and mobile dock for multiple bank accounts, allowing users to send and receive money across members and non-registered users. Transfers may be made via Coins wallets, e-mail, and text message orders.

The credit may then be converted into cash through the brick-and-mortar merchant partners like convenience stores and pawnshops.

E-money transactions totalled P1.1 trillion in 2016, marking an all-time high for the Philippines, according to central bank data.

There are 35 accredited e-money issuers as of July 25, according to the BSP’s Web site. Of this number, 28 are banks.

Ron Hose, chief executive officer of Coins, said securing a regulatory license in the Philippines shows the company’s commitment to providing a “safe and secure” e-wallet which the public can use.

Coins.ph recently secured $9.5 million in fresh funding from venture capital firms Quona Capital and Naspers Ventures, which will fuel the digital firm’s expansion plans for its operations.

The Coins platform makes use of the blockchain technology in processing transactions. Currently, the firm operates in the Philippines and Thailand.

The central bank has been allowing the entry of more non-bank players into serving the public, as part of its National Retail Payment System framework which targets wider use of digital payment platforms. The BSP has been embracing the use of technology to spur wider access to financial services while also bringing down transaction costs for Filipinos.

The BSP is eyeing to raise the share of digital payments to 20% of total transactions by 2020, from a measly 1% share in 2013.

Based on industry estimates, there are roughly 2.5 billion in total monthly transactions, with nearly all settled using cash. — Melissa Luz T. Lopez

Zimbabwe military says seizes power to stop ‘criminals,’ Mugabe ‘safe’

HARARE — Zimbabwe’s military said it had seized power in a targeted assault on “criminals” around President Robert Mugabe who were causing social and economic suffering, but gave assurances the 93-year-old leader and his family were “safe and sound.”

Zimbabwean soldiers and armored vehicles blocked roads to the main government offices, parliament and the courts in central Harare, a Reuters witness said on Wednesday.

Nearby, Zimbabweans queued for cash outside banks as public taxis ferried commuters to work.

“We are only targeting criminals around him (Mugabe) who are committing crimes that are causing social and economic suffering in the country in order to bring them to justice,” Zimbabwe Major General SB Moyo, chief of staff for Logistics, said on national television on Wednesday. “As soon as we have accomplished our mission, we expect that the situation will return to normalcy.”

The military detained Finance Minister Ignatius Chombo on Wednesday, a government source said. Mr. Chombo was a leading member of the so-called “G40” faction of the ruling ZANU-PF party, led by Mugabe’s wife Grace, that had been vying to succeed Mr. Mugabe.

Soldiers deployed across the Zimbabwe capital Harare on Tuesday and seized the state broadcaster after Mr. Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF party accused the head of the military of treason, prompting frenzied speculation of a coup.

Just 24 hours after military chief General Constantino Chiwenga threatened to intervene to end a purge of his allies in Mugabe’s ZANU-PF, a Reuters reporter saw armored personnel carriers on main roads around the capital.

Aggressive soldiers told passing cars to keep moving through the darkness. “Don’t try anything funny. Just go,” one barked at Reuters on Harare Drive.

Two hours later, soldiers overran the headquarters of the ZBC, Zimbabwe’s state broadcaster and a principal Mugabe mouthpiece, and ordered staff to leave.

Several ZBC workers were manhandled, two members of staff and a human rights activist said.

Shortly afterwards, three explosions rocked the center of the southern African nation’s capital, Reuters witnesses said.

Mr. Mugabe, the self-styled “Grand Old Man” of African politics, has led Zimbabwe for the last 37 years. In contrast to his elevated status on the continent, Mr. Mugabe is reviled in the West as a despot whose disastrous handling of the economy and willingness to resort to violence to maintain power destroyed one of Africa’s most promising states.

The United States and Britain advised their citizens in Harare to stay indoors because of “political uncertainty.” “US citizens in Zimbabwe are encouraged to shelter in place until further notice,” the US statement said. The British Foreign & Commonwealth Office statement told “nationals currently in Harare to remain safely at home or in their accommodation until the situation becomes clearer.”

Zimbabwe has been on edge since Monday when Mr. Chiwenga, Commander of the Zimbabwe Defense Forces, said he was prepared to “step in” to end a purge of supporters of sacked vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa. Only a few months ago, Mr. Mnangagwa, a former security chief nicknamed “The Crocodile,” was favorite to succeed his life-long political patron but was ousted a week ago to pave the way for Mugabe’s 52-year-old wife Grace to succeed him.

Mr. Chiwenga’s unprecedented statement represented a major escalation of the struggle to succeed Mr. Mugabe, the only leader Zimbabwe has known since it gained independence from Britain in 1980. Mr. Mugabe chaired a weekly cabinet meeting in the capital on Tuesday, officials said, and afterwards ZANU-PF said it stood by the “primacy of politics over the gun” and accused Mr. Chiwenga of “treasonable conduct… meant to incite insurrection.”

The previous day, Mr. Chiwenga had made clear the army’s refusal to accept the removal of Mnangagwa — like the generals a veteran of Zimbabwe’s anti-colonial liberation war — and the presumed accession of Grace, once a secretary in the government typing pool.

Local government minister Saviour Kasukuwere, a leading figure in her relatively youthful ‘G40’ faction, refused to answer Reuters questions about the situation in Harare.

“I’m in a meeting,” he said, before hanging up shortly before midnight.

Army, police and government spokesmen refused to answer numerous phone calls asking for comment.

‘DEFENDING OUR REVOLUTION’
Neither Mugabe nor Grace have responded in public to Mr. Chiwenga’s remarks and state media did not publish his statement.

The Herald newspaper posted some of the comments on its Twitter page but deleted them.

The head of ZANU-PF’s youth wing, which openly backs Grace, accused the army chief of subverting the constitution.

“Defending the revolution and our leader and president is an ideal we live for and if need be it is a principle we are prepared to die for,” Youth League leader Kudzai Chipanga said at the party’s headquarters in Harare.

Grace Mugabe’s rise has brought her into conflict with the independence-era war veterans, who enjoyed privileged status in Zimbabwe until the last two years when they spearheaded criticism of Mugabe’s handling of the economy.

In the last year, a chronic absence of dollars has led to long queues outside banks and an economic and financial collapse that many fear will rival the meltdown of 2007-2008, when inflation topped out at 500 billion percent.

Imported goods are running out and economists say that, by some measures, inflation is now at 50% a month.

According to a trove of intelligence documents reviewed by Reuters this year, Mr. Mnangagwa has been planning to revitalize the economy by bringing back thousands of white farmers kicked off their land nearly two decades ago and patching up relations with the likes of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Whatever the outcome, analysts said the military would want to present their move as something other than a full-blown coup to avoid criticism from an Africa keen to leave behind the Cold War continental stereotype of generals being the final arbiters of political power.

“A military coup is the nuclear option,” said Alex Magaisa, a UK-based Zimbabwean academic.

“A coup would be a very hard sell at home and in the international community. They will want to avoid that.” — Reuters

The TPP shouldn’t stop at 11

THE 11 governments that appear to have saved the Trans-Pacific Partnership deserve credit for persevering after President Donald Trump withdrew the US from their ambitious free-trade pact. They’ll deserve even more praise if they resolve to take the agreement further.

South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines aren’t yet members — but all have expressed interest in taking part. Expansion to a TPP-16 would greatly increase the economic benefits for all concerned. In due course, that might help the US to see where its own best interests lie, and persuade it to rejoin the project it pioneered.

As it stands, the TPP-11 deal that was agreed to in principle at the Vietnam summit is still valuable. The US decision to stand aside will reduce the remaining members’ economic benefits by roughly half. Even so, the gains will be substantial — especially for countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei that export more to the remaining members than they do to the US.

Adding new members could drastically increase those benefits. According to the Peterson Institute for International Economics, moving from 11 to 16 would triple the gains to members to roughly $500 billion a year — more than the original TPP-12 would have yielded. That’s because it would join together three advanced economies (Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan) that don’t currently share a free-trade agreement, and because it would drive the development of new supply chains across Asia.

Granted, getting to that point won’t be easy. First, the TPP-11 have some remaining issues to sort out before they can ratify their pact. Regarding further expansion, Thailand and Indonesia aren’t as eager as they should be, because the agreement calls for difficult domestic reforms. Taiwan is enthusiastic and has already started to prepare, but Chinese resistance is likely.

Japan, which led the push for TPP-11, should start a diplomatic effort to persuade Thailand and Indonesia to join. And TPP members should assure China that it too is welcome if it’s willing to adopt the agreement’s high standards. Last weekend’s tentative agreement has stolen some of the spotlight from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a less ambitious deal that includes China. That needn’t matter: A thriving TPP trade bloc could serve the same purpose, only better — helping China to prosper and reform by offering greater access to rapidly growing markets.

Trump laid out a very different vision in Vietnam, rejecting big multilateral agreements in favor of bilateral deals in which the US can use its size to gain advantage over rivals and partners alike. Any arrangement that furthers free trade is worthwhile — but such deliberately one-sided negotiations mean slower progress on a smaller scale.

With a growing TPP in the works, nations will have other options. Increasingly, Trump’s thinking on trade will end up hurting US businesses. American exporters have already borne losses as other countries have pushed ahead with their own trade deals — losses that the US Agriculture Department expects to rise. Opposition at home will grow.

That’s why, with luck, a maximalist approach to TPP might bring in not just China but also the country that came up with the idea and was once the global champion of liberal trade.

BLOOMBERG EDITORIAL BOARD

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